All week, I’ve been trying to sort through the very strange story of Prince Harry and King Charles holding “peace talks” in September and all of the adjacent rumors around that story. Let me be clear: I do not believe Harry and his father will meet, nor do I believe that the palace reached out to Harry in any way. But it was curious to watch as this story went from “a random rumor in a lower-tier British tabloid” to “Prince William is absolutely furious and he would never meet with Harry, even though he was never even part of the ‘peace talks’ rumor in the first place.” They’ve brought Meghan into it too, because of course the Windsors are making a point of not inviting Meg to this utterly hypothetical peace summit. So what was all of this about? Please allow this random publicist to explain it perfectly:

Don’t look for things to warm up between HRH and the erstwhile Duke of Sussex anytime soon, says one royal expert — not even after recently announced “peace talks,” set to go down next month.

Publicist Matt Yanofsky told the Mirror that the so-called summit seems to be more a PR move than a genuine meeting, and to expect little more than just another episode in the royal family’s dramatic “soap opera.”

“Only the men in that room know what will happen, but from a public relations standpoint, the royal family depends on storylines to stay in the news, especially when the public’s approval of the royals is in decline,” Yanofsky explained.

“This is another story point … which is great for the entire family [and the viewers at home],” he continued.

[From The NY Post]

Please, this is absolutely the truth. The palace wanted a late summer storyline, a distraction from the shambles of William and Kate’s marriage, a distraction from William’s utter laziness and incompetence and a distraction from the public’s general loathing of Charles and Camilla. Ta-daa, here’s a new soap opera storyline! Only it feels more pointed than that, right? Once William reacted the way he did (with rage), it felt like this was a Buckingham Palace leak with a purpose: Charles continuing to show that the estrangement is between his sons and not between father and spare. Anyway, I love that this publicist guy is basically like: the Windsors are drama queens feeding their media handlers with dumbf–k soap opera storylines. The dude spilled!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.